The Week Ahead: May 7 to 13

Two years after opening on Broadway, the play that critics have dubbed “the theatrical event of the decade” premieres in South Florida as the jewel in Broadway Across America’s crown. Following a young man’s pursuit of his beloved equine after it is requisitioned during World War 1, the story of “War Horse” is a powerful one—as evidenced by a reading of Michael Morpurgo’s award-winning 1982 children’s book or a viewing of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated 2011 film. The stage version achieves the impossible—it conveys the authenticity, brutality, sensitivity and inspiration of the source material on a bare stage, with puppets for horses. “War Horse” has become the highest grossing production in history in London’s West End, drawing Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip to the theater for the first time in four years. The show runs through May 19.

A basic rock ‘n’ roll trio with guitar, bass and drums: It seems almost quaint in 2013, as pop and indie music alike have become slavishly reliant on electronic beats and AutoTune. The Welsh band Joy Formidable was a breath of fresh, simple air when it emerged in 2008 with a scintillating, expansive indie-pop track called “Whirring,” which became the centerpiece of a remarkably potent debut album, “The Big Roar,” a few years later. But the group outdid itself this year with its new LP “Wolf’s Law,” an instant classic that confronts, soothes and provokes as it runs sonic gamuts from plaintive acoustic melodies to Black Sabbath-like metal riffs, punk-rock energy and indie dream-pop. Expect to hear the most thrilling tracks from both of Joy Formidable’s full-length albums at tonight’s concert. Look for a review of this show on Wednesday here at bocamag.com.

This summer, as always, our own Boca Raton Museum of Art will be Ground Zero for Florida’s art scene, with the best works from artists spanning the state’s 65,000 square miles exhibiting their work in this juried art competition. The result is intended to reflect today’s state of the art – as well as the art of the state – by spotlighting emerging, under-recognized and mid-career Florida artists working in mediums as diverse as paintings, graphics, drawings, sculptures, installations, photographs, computer-generated images and videos. This year’s juror, Mark Scala, who works as chief curator for Nashville’s Frist Center for Visual Arts, selected 149 works from 122 artists – culled from more than 550 artist submissions.

Thanks to a lack of airplay, music videos don’t have the opportunity to move thousands of records, as they once did, and a lot of bands don’t even bother to film them anymore. But for proof of the art form’s power and creativity beyond the occasional Lady Gaga or MIA track, look no further than Imagine Dragons, the Las Vegas-based quartet that’s spared no expense or ingenuity in putting together its videos. In its video for “Radioactive,” the opening track on its best-selling debut “Night Visions,” the band members are seen at an illegal, underground “puppet fighting” match alongside Lou Diamond Phillips, and in the album’s biggest hit “It’s Time,” the band has apparently survived the apocalypse. If doomsday does come soon, you could have a much worse soundtrack than this band’s booming, bass-heavy alternative rock. Paper Route and XX Ambassadors will open the show.

The lineup of Celtic Woman has changed dramatically since its 2004 inception, when it was co-created by David Downes of “Riverdance” fame. But the musical formula remains consistent: Beautiful women of Celtic origin singing traditional Irish songs and modern pop tunes, surrounded by a bevy of musicians. They flirted with symphonic shows earlier in the 2000s, but the current tour is back to the Celtic Woman basics, with live dancers, pipers, drummers and fiddlers adding instrumental color to the ladies’ powerful pipes. The set list will include Celtic standards, inspirational ballads and pop songs, including the contemporary hymn “You Raise Me Up,” Enya’s “Orinoco Flow” and many more.

Expect to hear more golf puns that you can shake a putter at during this comedy from playwright Ken Ludwig; hopefully most of them will land on the green and not a sand trap. Inspired by English farces of the 1930s and 1940s, “The Fox on the Fairway” is set in the world of elite golf institutions, where two rival country clubs – Quail Valley and Crouching Squirrel – are rocked by the news that a top player may be defecting one club for the other, just before the teams square off for their annual grudge match. Actors’ Playhouse’s David Arisco, who calls the play a “comedic blast from start to finish,” will direct a multitalented cast including Ken Clement, Todd Allen Durkin, Betsy Graver, Clay Cartland and Amy McKenna. The play runs through June 2, and ticket prices vary depending on date and time.

The Museum of Discovery and Science is going all out in its celebration of Asian-Pacific culture, scheduled in honor of May being Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. For the second year in a row, the museum has slated a daylong series of activities exploring the tradition, cultures and history of the Asian continent and its many surrounding islands. There will be special showings of the IMAX films “Ultimate Wave: Tahiti 3D” and “China: The Panda Adventure” as well as several Polynesian-themed activities, such as dance performances, a fashion show, drum carving demonstrations, poi tasting, surf lessons, warrior face painting and costume dress-up. Asian-themed activities include Japanese origami, taiko drumming (pictured), Chinese lion dance and martial arts, sushi demonstrations and sampling, and cultural dress and traditions.

It’s 2013, and Bill Cosby is still relevant. That’s quite an achievement, as many comedians from Cosby’s era have either tragically died, delved into serious acting, or faded into the limelight as relics from another era. He’s still putting younger, fresher comics to shame – as his hilarious performance last month on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” can attest. Last November, the 75-year-old multimedia entertainer released his latest best-selling humor book, “I Didn’t Ask to Be Born (But I’m Glad I Was),” in paperback, which introduces a host of invented characters and addresses personal memories alongside wacky stories. If his current standup show is half as funny as his book, you’ll get twice your money’s worth.